Introduction Tools
by zeilfanaat
Summary: In the episode 'You Say Good Bye, I Say Hello', it seems like Nancy's father Paul already met Clint prior to this meeting. This is a missing scene on how they met, written for the i2eye Missing Scene Challenge.


**Introduction Tools **  
by zeilfanaat  
**Category:** Humour  
**Ratings:** G  
**Disclaimer:** DOC does not belong to me. No infringement intended.  
**Spoilers:** You Say Good Bye, I Say Hello  
**Summary:** (DOC #2) In this episode it seems like Nancy's father Paul already met Clint prior to this meeting. This is a missing scene on how they met.  
**Challenge:** i2eye Anniversary Missing Scene Challenge 2008  
**A/N:** Hope you'll enjoy!  
**Finished: **October 10, 2008

***

"Paul Nichol," he said, as he picked up the phone.

_"Hey Dad,"_ he heard, immediately bringing a smile to his face.

"Nancy!"

_"Dad, you sound as if you haven't heard from me in months! We saw each other two days ago,"_ his daughter's amused voice said.

"Well, can't a father be glad when his daughter calls him?" Paul said smiling. "Unless," he continued, "you're calling to cancel for dinner tomorrow…?"

_"No, it's not that,"_ Nancy said, and quickly continued, _"but it is related."_

His eyebrows rose, and he waited for the explanation. He didn't have to wait long. _"You remember I told you we've got a new doctor at the clinic?"_

"Yes…"

_"He asked if I could help him with something tomorrow, and invited me for dinner afterwards as compensation."_

Paul's eyebrows rose possibly even further. "I thought you just said you didn't call to cancel?"

_"I'm not,"_ Nancy said. _"I'm just asking if you'd mind if he joined us instead?"_

Frowning, Paul thought about that. Usually he had no problem with a friend of Nancy's joining them for dinner. But it had always been people she'd known at least a little longer. This doctor couldn't have been here that long yet.

"Isn't that a little fast?" Paul Nichol frowned.

_"Dad! He invited me for dinner in exchange for some help; he only moved to the city a few weeks ago; he's not waiting to jump me or anything,"_ Nancy said a little annoyed, hoping it would stop any further comments or questions in that direction. It wasn't as if they were dating! They were just colleagues! The man had come to New York because of another woman who had dumped him only two weeks ago. She highly doubted Clint would see this as anything other than a chance to get to know a colleague a little better. He just didn't seem to be that kind of guy.

Knowing when to stop pushing, Paul decided it was better to agree and meet this guy himself. "Ok, ok, fine."

The doorbell rang, letting him know there was a customer.

"I'll be there tomorrow, 7 o'clock. Got to go now Sweetheart, I've got a customer."

_"Ok, thanks, Dad. See you tomorrow!"_ Nancy said, happy her father had agreed. She was sure the two men would get along. They hung up, and Paul quickly went to the front of the building where his hardware store was stationed.

"Good evening Sir, how can I help you?" he asked as the man looked up.

"Good evening. I was just lookin' for some tools. I recently moved 'cross the country, but had to leave most of them behind."

"Well, that I should be able to help you with," Paul smiled.

"Good, at least the meaning of 'hardware store' is the same even in the big city," the customer said with a grin, and Paul couldn't help but join.

"Yes, we city-people may do things a little different than across the country, but a hardware store is a hardware store. So, what do you need?"

The two men quickly had things covered between them, the customer knowing exactly what he needed, and Paul knowing exactly what he had on the shelves.

"Are you going to use it for your job?" Paul asked, as he put the tools in a bag. The customer grinned, putting his wallet away after having paid.

"Don't think _my_ clients would appreciate me using these tools."

At Paul's look, he said in the same amused voice, "I'm a doctor."

Paul laughed. "No, then you'd better not use these. There you go," he said, handing over the bag. "If you need anything else, just drop by."

"Will do, thank you, Sir." The customer touched the brim of his cowboy hat, and left the store. Shaking his head, Paul watched the man get in his truck. 'A doctor who dresses like a cowboy. Well, I've seen weirder things. And at least this guy was polite.'

* * *

Paul Nichol had just parked his car, and walked towards the apartment building his daughter lived in. He had almost forgotten about the cowboy/doctor-customer he had had last night, when he noticed a similar truck parked not too far from his own car. Arriving at his daughter's apartment, he knocked and waited.

When Nancy opened the door, she gave him a hug. "Hi Dad, glad you made it."

"Of course I made it. Wasn't going to let dinner with my daughter pass," Paul muttered affectionately. The wide grin he received from his daughter brightened his evening.

"How was your day?" he asked.

"Oh, it was great fun, I managed to find the right stores, allowing Clint to get the right furniture. It was nice. How was your day?" Nancy asked, as she took her father's coat, deliberately avoiding the part where she actually picked the couch for Clint. That would probably not give her father the right idea.

"So so," Paul replied, then suddenly remembered the previous evening. "Oh, but you'll never guess what happened last night. There was this nice guy – imagine a cowboy, a polite one – he came to buy some tools. When I asked if he was going to use them for his job, he said he-"

Shocked he stopped talking for a moment, seeing the person appearing from the direction of the toilet. "You're the doctor," he stated.

Nancy looked at him strangely for a moment. "He said that you were a doctor?"

Paul blinked, but before he could answer, another voice cut in.

"Actually, Nancy, I think he meant me." The man's voice sounded amused. Apparently he'd gotten over the shock a whole lot faster, but Paul figured he might have recognised his voice before even entering the living room. Nancy turned around, still not getting the confusion.

"Well, yes, Dad, this is doctor Clint Cassidy, the new doctor at Westbury Clinic. And Clint, this is my father, Paul Nichol."

Even as she made the introductions, she couldn't help but feel there was more going on, and she didn't like not knowing what that was.

"Nice to meet you, Sir," Clint said, walking towards them with an outstretched hand. "Again," he added.

Paul had woken up from his daze, and started to see the humour in the situation. "Yes, indeed. Although I must say it's nice to have a name with the face this time."

They shook hands, and looked at each other for a long moment, before smiles broke out on both their faces. Nancy raised her eyebrows and put her hands on her hips. "Just what is going on here?"

The two men turned to look at her, then their gazes met again, both amused. Paul decided he liked the guy. Finally though, Clint took pity on his colleague. "Apparently I know the guy your father was talking about quite well…"

"Yes, as you should," Paul nodded gravely.

For a moment, Nancy regarded the two men, who she had thought had never met before. Unless… a smile crept up her face. "Hold on, you mean, Clint was the man walking into your store yesterday?" she guessed.

"Yes, that would seem to be the case," Paul nodded.

Nancy chuckled. "Only Clint Cassidy. Oh well, now that these introductions have been made, how about dinner?"

"Great idea!" Clint and Paul agreed.

Conversation flowed easily during dinner, and Paul watched contentedly as his daughter and the doctor did the dishes, glad Clint had offered. He thoroughly hated doing dishes. And he could see the ease with which the two younger people interacted.

His earlier worries that the new doctor might be after his daughter were erased. He'd been told about what had happened, what with Clint's girlfriend dumping him not long after he'd followed her all the way from Montana, and he doubted the man was up for another relationship just yet. As for his daughter, she just seemed content getting to know him better.

Soon the evening started to come to a close though.

"Well Mr. Nichol," Clint started.

"Paul," Nancy's father interrupted.

"Paul," Clint acknowledged, "I must say I've had far less interesting ways of meeting people," Clint said.

Nancy grinned. "Far more interesting too. I mean, who gets to meet his building supervisor by almost getting arrested twice?"

Paul's eyes quickly shot towards the doctor. Had his instincts about this man been so off? But no, Nancy wouldn't bring a criminal home – not knowingly.

"That sounds interesting…" he prodded. Clint sighed, but gave in. "When I just arrived from Montana, I had my rifle up in the back of my truck – just like anyone in Montana. You can probably imagine the reactions from the cops here in New York."

Paul snorted. "Yes, that's not hard to imagine."

"Well, I explained the situation to the cop, and luckily my then-girlfriend was nearby, and that certainly helped in my not being arrested."

"Ok," Paul nodded. "That was 'almost-arrest' number one. What about the second?"

"The second was when I was trying to make a house-call. Apparently that's not very common in the big city either. The woman thought I was a thief, trying to con her into believing I was a doctor. She called the police, and it just so happened that it was the same officer as before. We saved the woman's life, and then the cop said he knew of an empty apartment in the building he was supervisor of. And that's basically how I got my apartment."

Paul shook his head. "Well, at least it'll never be boring with you around!"

Little did he know just how instrumental this man would be in getting Nancy and her mother back on the same page…

**The End**


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